November Newsletter: Uniting voices of ex-Muslims and Muslim reformers; Joanna Vergoth helps FGM survivors deal with trauma

Two years ago, after working on my bestselling book Heretic it became clear to me that if we were to combat the dangerous ideology of Islamism, we must unite and amplify the voices of Muslim reformers and ex-Muslims. Last month, thanks to support from donors like you, we took the first leap toward my idea—we held the first meeting of the Coalescing Networks to Combat Islamist Ideologies Seminar at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. Hear my opening speech and more about the seminar here. You can read my past op-eds on combating Islamism in this blog.

“Trauma never goes away, but they [survivors of female genital mutilation (FGM)] get bigger than the trauma is.” This is how Joanna Vergoth, a mental health professional in Chicago, sums up her work in helping FGM survivors process trauma from abuse. Only recently have people become more aware of the psychological consequences of FGM and Joanna is one of the pioneers in this field. Watch her video here and read about her extensive knowledge about FGM.

We couldn’t do our life-saving work without supporters like you. We are facing a dangerous funding shortage. Currently we have only raised 49% of our fundraising goal for 2019. Please help us close the gap before the end of the year. Renew your support now.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Founder